Local history

Lighthouses were important infrastructure for navigation and often had military significance in times of war. The lights of the eastern Long Island Sound are no different.

In “Nazis of Long Island,” historian Christopher Verga details how Nazi spy rings infiltrated communities on Long Island and NYC, "posing as housewives, engineers…or even your neighbor next door." An important Nazi recruitment camp was located in Yaphank.

The designation of Sound Avenue in Riverhead as a 'scenic and historic' roadway has an interesting history. Here's how it happened and what it means — and doesn't mean — and a look at how it helped scuttle plans for two nuclear power plants on the Long Island Sound in Jamesport.

Today marks 50 years since the end of a war so divisive that even half a century later, it remains a source of controversy and pain for those who lived through it, fought in it, or lost loved ones to it. More than 58,000 U.S. service members died in Vietnam, and the scars of that conflict still run deep.

Local historians are planning to erect historic markers to recognize the lives of two enslaved people who once lived in Riverhead Town.

A long-defunct motel on Flanders Road, converted into apartments, is a reminder of the once-thriving Black business district in Riverside. David Peter Fitzgerald, whose father built the motel in 1957, and who later operated the motel, recalls Riverside's forgotten history.

Jamesport Meeting House will host a Historic Jamesport House Tour on Saturday, Sept. 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring 16 homes of historical and architectural significance in Jamesport and South Jamesport.

The 1731 Jamesport Meeting House will host a free illustrated lecture entitled, “Jamesport: 300+ Years of History,” on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jamesport Meeting House, 1590 Main Rd. (Route 25), in Jamesport.

Papers from the personal collection of the late Riverhead Town Justice of the Peace and former Town Supervisor William Leonard were given to the Town of Riverhead by the Suffolk County Historical Society during a ceremony at the court Friday morning.

To the Editor: Couldn’t let another day go by without commending you on this incredible piece of writing ("Tin...